Fitz and the Tantrums traveling a soulful route

Saturday

Four years ago, it was Amy Winehouse, backed by the Dap-Kings, who caused a stir.

Last year, it was Sharon Jones and those same Dap-Kings making a dent with their muscular soul.

Now, Fitz and the Tantrums has taken the next soulful step.

The Los Angeles-based band has impressed with its debut album, “Pickin Up The Pieces.” Motown and the Chicago style of soul have had an obvious impact on the 2010 release, which is full of gritty, sexy and stylish tunes.

“We’re definitely influenced by the soul music of the late-’60s,” singer-songwriter-keyboardist Michael “Fitz” Fitzpatrick says during a telephone interview from his Los Angeles home.

“But I try not to listen to music when I write because it’ll seep into your process subconsciously. You’ll think you came up with this great melody and then you realize that it was from Motown. It’s all right. Motown hit everyone in the group hard. That sound from that era is incredible.”

The sound from “Pickin’ Up the Pieces” isn’t bad, either. There are deep grooves and catchy numbers, but the act and the production are smooth as silk.

“It’s not the rawest album, but we made it the way we wanted to make it,” Fitzpatrick says. “It worked out well for us. We’ve been on the road for a year and a half behind it and it’s surpassed our wildest dreams. For us, it’s not about being the biggest band in the world. We’re about making the music we love and taking it to the road.”

Fitzpatrick is looking forward to showcasing some of the new material Friday at the Borgata in Atlantic City.

“We couldn’t tour for as long as we have without writing new songs,” he says. “We got a bunch of new songs to play and it’ll be interesting to see how people respond to them.

“I’m looking forward to doing the show in Atlantic City since we’ve never played around the casinos there. We played at Bader Field at that festival Dave Matthews put together last summer. But this time, I’m excited that we’ll be there in the thick of things because I’m looking forward to gambling. I love to play blackjack and craps.

“I’m looking forward to hanging around the city and soaking up what it has to offer. It’s not far from Philadelphia, which has a soul thing going on, too, with Gamble and Huff and Hall and Oates.”

Fitz and the Tantrums recently played a “Live at Daryl’s House” session with iconic blue-eyed soulster Daryl Hall.

“That was the best thing we’ve done in some ways,” Fitzpatrick says. “Not only is Daryl Hall one of my favorite singers ever, doing his show was huge for us. That performance was more benpeficial for us than playing (‘The Tonight Show With Jay) Leno,’ Conan (O’Brien) or (Jimmy) Kimmel.

“So many people who are really into music have come up to me and told me they caught us there for the first time on Daryl’s show. That worked out and it was so much playing with some incredible musicians. I’m so thankful we were on that show. It helped us quite a bit and now we’re trying to go out there and help ourselves by playing as hard and as best as we can.”

Fitzpatrick and his bandmates — vocalist Noelle Scaggs, saxophonist James King, keyboardist Jeremy Ruzumna, bassist Joseph Karnes and drummer John Wicks — are riding high with the hit single “Moneygrabber.”

“It’s so great to have any kind of a hit,” Fitzpatrick says. “We’re thankful for it, but we’ve worked so hard for it. We poured everything we had into this album. We went for it in the studio and then we’ve toured like crazy.”

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